The inaugural Velominati Super Prestige continues the with Tour de France edition, on Saturday July 3rd in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, just kilometers from the start of the Giro d’Italia in Amsterdam (Dutchland is a small country). This will be the second Grand Tour of the series, and at this stage the Grand Tour rules and regulations are fairly well-defined, so take a moment to review them on the VSP Page.
The Tour is, of course, a major event. My personal preference lies with the Giro, but there is no denying the magnitude of the Tour and the appeal it holds. For three weeks, the world pays attention to our sport, and – provided the Tour doesn’t coincide with the World Cup football matches – this is the biggest sporting event during this time of the year. (An interesting observation: the last time these events coincided, the winner was eventually stripped of his title.)
Having run the VSP Giro edition where we tested the ruleset for Grand Tours, we’ve managed to set up a scoring system that seems fair and helps to close down the competition to afford newcomers the ability to catch up with some good picks; the Giro proved that lineup switches and the associated penalties kept the point gains pretty small while allowing strategy to play an interesting role. There is a full overview of the rules and standing at the VSP Schedule, Rules, & Results page, but here is the ten-second overview:
Every contestant is to choose their top five General Classification picks of the race. The final podium of le Grande Boucle is worth 15 points to the winner, 10 points for second, 5 points for third, 3 points for fourth, and 2 point for fifth. Given the effect crashes can have on a tour, we’ve set up some guidelines around making changes to your lineup during the race: you’re allowed to change your lineup if any rider in your pick list drops out for any reason without any penalty; rest days will allow contestants to make changes to their lineup, however those changes will come at a point penalty. (Visit the VSP Schedule, Rules, & Results page for a complete breakdown of these points.)
Every day, the leader in the points standings will have the honor of wearing the Yellow Jersey when posting on the site; the overall winner will wear the Yellow Jersey for the remainder of the season and will also earn an “Obey the Rules” bumper sticker. All reader’s points qualify towards the final prize of the free Velominati Shop Apron. As always, if you are inclined to enter, simply post your predictions for the top five placings.
New to the Tour de France edition is the addition of naming the winner of the Green and Polka-dot jerseys for the Tour. There will be no points awarded towards these two jerseys, but the leader of the competition of these jerseys will have the honor of commenting with a Green or Polka-dot jersey badge throughout the competition and the winner will earn the right to comment with that badge until next year’s Tour. The contestant who picks both the final Green and Polka jersey winners correctly will win a Velominati Logo bumper sticker. Tie-breakers will go to the first contestant who posts their entire lineup (all 5 GC picks plus Green and Polka-dot jersey winners). Given that this sub-competition has no points, pick substitutions will only be granted under the DNF regulations of the VSP; no rest-day substitutions are allowed.
Sub-competitions will be conducted while the Tour is underway for specific stages. These stages will be chosen a few days prior to the stage being held and will be selected based on the current race conditions with the aim of choosing the most decisive and exciting stages of the race, so check back often to make sure you don’t miss out. Sub-competitions will be held in separate editions.
Good luck!
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@Canarypunk I never called Cancellara a whiner. I called him cleverly complicit in the Bjarne Riis's masterstroke.
@Marko I read your entire post carefully, and I'm thinking, "Fuck, marko has a cool job." After that I'm perplexed. Calling a ProTour rider a big pussy is a relative thing. One can call such that against any man, or one can call such that in relation to other ProTour riders. Since I've never raced in the TdF for three weeks, I'd never call the Schlecks big pussies compared to me. I might well, however, call them big pussies in relation to the tough bastards they are competing against. One must ask the question, Why did they come off the Stockeau so far behind everyone else?? There may be perfectly legit reasons. I don't discount that.
@david
Well, he's a hardman. But, he's also a professional cyclist. I love the guy, but he's the Perfect Amount of Dumb.
Oh, and Brett's a stud. Can't wait to meet that fucker.
@Marko
Chapeau. You said exactly what I've been trying to say. Well playeed, mate.
Crap result - unwritten rule (x+1) [when x = The Rules]; "Don't take advantage of flukey misfortune of other GC riders, sit up and wait for their return to the group (within reason)"
BUT for fucks sake - this rule does not extend to effectively stopping racing and throwing in the towel 40 km's from home.
This was a totally crap day for the sport. Made a mockery of everything/everyone. I am pissed off. A couple of big girls blouse sooks spoil the race, get the 'unwritten rules' all stuffed up. Now what is going to happen, say Basso or Menchov (2 of the not exactly most upright riders in the bunch) stack on the descent from Col de le Madelaine (also about 40kms to finish as with today), do all of the GC boys need to neutralise the subsequent racing? On basis of today's performance - yes.
crap crap crap crapanola.
Bullshit interpretation of the rules - should be rule No. 1, no manipulation of the rules - espcaially any rules x+ (the unwritten ones)
Peleton was right to sit up and wait for the boys on the ground to get up/new bikes, etc. BUT who the fuck elected Faboo and Riis the bosses? Racing in earnest should have resumed at 15km to go (by then all were back together). Saxo must have laughed their sox off last night.
@Canarypunk I'm not sure what I'm reading into it that ain't there. That Cancellara stopped Cervelo from chasing Chavanel? That's public record by now. That he did it to allow the Schleck's to get back into the race. He himself says he did so. The only thing I don't have evidence for is Riis directing Cancellara. But, do you doubt this?
This idea that Cancellara made some heroic sacrifice of the yellow jersey for the sake of the integrity of the peloton is naive at best. He made the sacrifice to prevent Saxo's two GC riders from being knocked out of the competition on the 2nd stage.
Boy, are you gonna be disappointed!
@crossy
@david
Can't agree more. Someone early on mentioned the Zulle incident in 99, I didn't see anyone worrying about him coz he fell on some slippery surface... it was full on gap-the-fucker-and-take-time. Can't quite remember who was behind that move. But it probably lost the Tour for Zulle right there. That was bad luck. Racing is full of bad luck. Racing also is done under all weather conditions. Look at the Giro. Look at K-B-K this year. Once you start taking out the variables of ROAD racing, they may as well all sit on the trainer and see who can put out the most watts, because bike handling skills, tactical nous, hardness and good ol' luck will never be a factor...
Oh, and fucking Eggtimer is blaming the fact that the cars don't have TVs in them anymore. Calling Eddy; can you remind these blouses how you won in your day, sans radio and TV... please?
@brett
Absolutely! Nail, ... Head.
I can see it now; big stadium (indoors of course, don't want the pesky weather spoiling a good bike race), lots of spectators, all riders on their machines each hooked up to a mag trainer (not rollers - some idiot might fall off!), each mag trainer linked to a central computer with a screen in front of each rider relaying a 'realistic view of the road ahead'. Big fans blowing to create 'realistic wind face and jersey look'. Computer adjusts the resistance of each riders trainer according to position in the race. Three weeks later, hey presto, the Maillot Jaune for the 2011 virtual TdF!
Daily presentations, green, polka dot and white jersey's no problems, kissy kissy girls, no worries (actually could introduce some pom-pom girls around the outside to keep the spectators interested and 'support' their team). Holly f@#$ why has no one thought of it before? ... I claim copyright - going straight out to set up the Virtual Cycling Racing Association (VCRA)
@brett
Yes, that's what I was referring to earlier. We couldn't find anyone because the DS's weren't there to hold our hands - because, what, they're only allowed tv's in the back seat and DS's are so notoriously fat that it would be too risky for them to have to conduct such a complex manouevre?. Good grief. Maybe he was just trying to make his teammate Horner look sane.